We used retinal samples from retinectomy for a transcriptomic analysis of retinal detachment. We developed a procedure that allows RNA conservation between the surgical blocks and the laboratory. We standardized a protocol to purify RNA by cesium chloride ultracentrifugation to assure that the purified RNAs are suitable for microarray analysis.
Neural retina of a mouse aged 8 days is on top of a 4% gelatin block. After isolation of the photoreceptor layer (200 µm) by vibratome, the photoreceptors are seeded after mechanical and enzymatic dissociation for culture. The photoreceptor layer can be used for molecular, biochemical analyses or transplantation.
This article describes the protocol for the purification of photoreceptor outer segment fragments (POS) via ultracentrifugation from porcine/bovine retinae using homogenization and sucrose gradient centrifugation. This protocol allows the preparation of large stocks of POS aliquots, labeled or unlabeled, that can then be stored at -80 °C.
To investigate the blood-retinal barrier permeability and the inner limiting membrane integrity in animal models of retinal disease, we used several adeno-associated virus (AAV) variants as tools to label retinal neurons and glia. Virus mediated reporter gene expression is then used as an indicator of retinal barrier permeability.
Corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) is the only conservative treatment currently available to halt keratoconus progression by improving the biomechanical rigidity of the corneal stroma. The aim of this manuscript is to highlight the methods of three different protocols of CXL: conventional CXL (C-CXL), accelerated CXL (A-CXL), and iontophoresis CXL (I-CXL).
The production of specialized retinal cells from pluripotent stem cells is a turning point in the development of stem cell-based therapy for retinal diseases. The present paper describes a simple method for an efficient generation of retinal organoids and retinal pigmented epithelium for basic, translational, and clinical research.
Astrocytes tile the cerebral cortex uniformly, making the analysis of their complex morphology challenging at the cellular level. The protocol provided here uses multicolor labeling based on in utero electroporation to single out cortical astrocytes and analyze their volume and morphology with a user-friendly image analysis pipeline.
We describe a method to obtain primary cultures of cone photoreceptors from the retina of chicken embryos and its use for high content screening.